History of display technology

The cathode ray tube was the workhorse of text and video display technology for several decades until being displaced by plasma, liquid crystal (LCD), and solid-state devices such as thin-film transistors (TFTs), LEDs and OLEDs.

CRTs were the single most popular display technology used in television sets and computer monitors for over half a century; it was not until the 2000s that LCDs began to gradually replace them.

In 1968, Tektronix introduced the Direct-view bistable storage tube, which went on to be widely used in oscilloscopes and computer terminals.

1961 Flip-disc display:1960s Stroboscopic display:[4][5] In the 1960s RASA Calculator (Russian), a small motor spins a cylinder that has a number of transparent numerals.

To display a numeral, the calculator briefly flashes a thyratron light behind the required number when it spins into position.